{{Short description|Ukrainian photographer (1981–2022)}} {{Expand language|topic=|langcode=Az|otherarticle=Maksim Levin|date=May 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Family name hatnote|Yevhenovych|Levin|lang=Eastern Slavic}} {{Infobox person | name = Maks Levin | image = Maks Levin (1d).jpg | alt = Colour press photo of smiling, clean-shaven man with wavy blond hair. | caption = Maks Levin, {{circa}} 2021 | native_name = Максим Євгенович Левін | native_name_lang = uk | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1981|7|7}} | birth_place = Boyarka, Kyiv Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR | death_date = {{circa}} {{death date and age|df=yes|2022|3|13|1981|7|7}} | death_place = Huta-Mezhyhirska, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine | death_cause = Gunshot wounds | body_discovered = 1 April 2022<br />Huta-Mezhyhirska, Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine | education = Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute | occupation = Photographer | organizations = | children = 4 | awards = {{ubl | Order of Merit, 3rd Class | Order for Courage }} }}
'''Maksim Yevhenovych Levin''' ({{langx|uk|Максим Євгенович Левін|translit=Maksym Yevhenovych Levin}}; 7 July 1981 – {{circa|13 March 2022}}) was a Ukrainian photographer. He reported as a photojournalist from 2006, for LB.ua and Reuters among many others. He also provided photographs for international humanitarian organisations including UNICEF and World Health Organization.
During a mission to document the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Kyiv Oblast, Levin was detained, interrogated, possibly tortured, and executed by Russian soldiers. His friend Oleksiy Chernyshov, who was accompanying him, was likely burned alive.<ref name="guard">{{Cite news |date=June 22, 2022 |title=Ukrainian photographer and friend were 'executed in cold blood' – report |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/22/ukrainian-photographer-maksim-levin-executed-cold-blood-russia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=June 22, 2022 |title=Ukrainian journalist Maks Levin 'executed by Russian troops,' RSF investigation finds |work=Yahoo News |url=https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-journalist-maks-levin-executed-135500635.html |archive-date=10 August 2023 |access-date=23 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810230409/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-journalist-maks-levin-executed-135500635.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
== Life and career == Levin was born on 7 July 1981 in Boyarka, Kyiv Oblast.<ref name="ukrinform-levin">{{cite news |title=Documentary photographer, photojournalist Maks Levin found dead in Kyiv region |url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3446547-documentary-photographer-photojournalist-maks-levin-found-dead-in-kyiv-region.html |access-date=2 April 2022 |agency=Ukrinform |date=2 April 2022 |language=en |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402104742/https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ato/3446547-documentary-photographer-photojournalist-maks-levin-found-dead-in-kyiv-region.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="birdinflight">{{cite web |last=Черничко |first=Артем |date=22 March 2022 |url=https://birdinflight.com/uk/novini/20220322-photographer-maks-levin-disappeared.html |title=Під Києвом зник український фотожурналіст Макс Левін |trans-title=Ukrainian photojournalist Maks Levin has disappeared near Kyiv |work=Bird in Flight |language=uk |access-date=9 April 2022 |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422014942/https://birdinflight.com/uk/novini/20220322-photographer-maks-levin-disappeared.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He wanted to become a photographer already as a teenager, and attended a photography club while a school student. He first trained to be a computer systems engineer, as his father wished.<ref name="pravda" /> He graduated from the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, and worked as a systems engineer.<ref name="LB.ua">{{cite web | url = https://lb.ua/author/378_maks_levin | title = Mакс Левін / Кабинет автора на портале новостей | trans-title = Max Levin / Author's office on the news portal | work = LB.ua | date = 28 October 2019 | language = uk | access-date = 4 April 2022 | archive-date = 21 October 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201021070448/https://lb.ua/author/378_maks_levin | url-status = live }}</ref> He and his wife had four sons.<ref>{{cite web |language=fr |title=Guerre en Ukraine: un photographe et documentaliste chevronné retrouvé mort près de Kiev |trans-title=War in Ukraine: veteran photographer and documentalist found dead near Kyiv |url=https://www.nicematin.com/conflits/guerre-en-ukraine-un-photographe-et-documentaliste-chevronne-retrouve-mort-pres-de-kiev-757684 |website=Nice-Matin |date=2 April 2022 |access-date=2 April 2022 |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402112438/https://www.nicematin.com/conflits/guerre-en-ukraine-un-photographe-et-documentaliste-chevronne-retrouve-mort-pres-de-kiev-757684 |url-status=live }}</ref>
thumb|upright=1.5|Photographs by Levin shown in Boyarka as part of a project "After Ilovaisk"
Levin began working as a photojournalist in 2006.<ref name="lensculture" /> He was a staff photographer for LB.ua and a stringer for Reuters. He also worked for Associated Press, BBC, Hromadske and TRT World. His photographs were published by ''Elle'', Korrespondent.net, Radio Bulgaria, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, ''The Moscow Times'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''Time'', Ukraine Crisis Media Center, ''Vatican News'', and World News Media, among others. He also took photographs and conducted video projects for humanitarian organisations, including HealthRight International, UNFPA, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), UNICEF, United Nations (UN), UN Women, and World Health Organization (WHO).<ref name="ukrinform-levin" /><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://eeca.unfpa.org/en/news/many-women-ukraine-escape-conflict-not-escape-violence |title=For many women in Ukraine, escape from conflict not an escape from violence |date=9 June 2017 |access-date=12 April 2022 |archive-date=22 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422014940/https://eeca.unfpa.org/en/news/many-women-ukraine-escape-conflict-not-escape-violence |url-status=live }}</ref> He was the author of the documentary project about the military "Afterilovaisk" and the project about responsible fatherhood "Dads' Club".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-27 |title=AFTER ILOVAISK - документальний проект про людей, які пройшли пекло Іловайська |url=https://afterilovaisk.com/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927234006/https://afterilovaisk.com/ |archive-date=27 September 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-10-07 |title=Батькiвський клуб – Головна сторiнка - Fathers Club |url=https://fathersclub.com.ua/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007124805/https://fathersclub.com.ua/ |archive-date=7 October 2022 }}</ref>
He was present for a number of battles in the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War, and was surrounded by Russian forces during the Battle of Ilovaisk.<ref name="pravda">{{Cite news |date=2 April 2022 |title=Photojournalist Maks Levin found dead |language=en |work=Ukrayinska Pravda |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/04/2/7336570/ |access-date=2 April 2022 |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402132139/https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/04/2/7336570/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="lensculture">{{Cite web |last=Levin |first=Maks |title=Maks Levin |url=https://www.lensculture.com/maks-levin |access-date=2 April 2022 |website=LensCulture |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402214859/https://www.lensculture.com/maks-levin |url-status=live }}</ref> He escaped alive, and was honoured in 2015 by President Petro Poroshenko with the Order "For Merits" of the III degree.<ref name="pravda" />
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Levin was quoted saying: "Every Ukrainian photographer dreams of taking a photo that will stop the war."<ref name="ukrinform-levin" /> One of his photographs, showing destroyed buildings in Kyiv, graced the cover of a March 2022 edition of the German magazine ''Der Spiegel''.<ref name="Spiegel">{{cite web |language=de |title=Krieg in der Ukraine / Bekannter ukrainischer Fotograf und Dokumentarfilmer getötet |trans-title=War in Ukraine / Well-known Ukrainian photographer and documentary filmmaker killed |url=https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/maks-levin-bekannter-ukrainischer-fotograf-und-dokumentarfilmer-getoetet-a-fa0fbbb5-0440-4f5f-81b0-4ba7483bba20 |newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=2 April 2022 |access-date=4 April 2022 |archive-date=4 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404031212/https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/maks-levin-bekannter-ukrainischer-fotograf-und-dokumentarfilmer-getoetet-a-fa0fbbb5-0440-4f5f-81b0-4ba7483bba20 |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Death === Levin went missing on 13 March 2022, when he left, together with Oleksiy Chernyshov, to photograph consequences of Russian aggression near Huta-Mezhyhirska in the Kyiv Oblast. Connection to them was interrupted that day.<ref name="ukrinform-levin"/> His body was found near the village on 1 April 2022. According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office, he was fatally shot twice by Russian servicemen while unarmed and wearing a press jacket.<ref name="ukrinform-levin" /><ref name="rferl-levin">{{cite news |title=Missing Ukrainian Photojournalist Levin Found Dead Near Kyiv |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-war-photographer-levin-killed/31782629.html |access-date=2 April 2022 |agency=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |date=2 April 2022 |language=en |archive-date=2 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402121812/https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-war-photographer-levin-killed/31782629.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to a report published by Reporters Without Borders, he was executed by Russian soldiers, probably members of the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade,<ref>https://rsf.org/en/rsf-has-new-evidence-about-identity-russian-soldiers-area-where-ukrainian-journalist-was-killed</ref> possibly after being interrogated and tortured.<ref name="Al Jazeera 2022">{{cite web | title=Ukrainian journalist 'coldly executed' by Russian forces: Report - Russia-Ukraine war News | website=Al Jazeera | date=22 June 2022 | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/22/ukrainian-journalist-maks-levin-executed-russian-forces-report | access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref><ref name="RSF 2022">{{cite web | title=Exclusive RSF investigation into the death of Maks Levin: "Information and evidence collected indicates this Ukrainian journalist was executed." | website=RSF | date=29 May 2022 | url=https://rsf.org/en/exclusive-rsf-investigation-death-maks-levin-information-and-evidence-collected-indicates | access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref><ref name="CNN Portugal 2022">{{cite web | title=Fotojornalista Maks Levin foi "executado a sangue-frio" por tropas russas | website=CNN Portugal | date=22 June 2022 | url=https://cnnportugal.iol.pt/ucrania/russia/fotojornalista-maks-levin-foi-executado-a-sangue-frio-por-tropas-russas/20220622/62b2fb110cf2f9a86eaa45d7 | language=pt | access-date=22 June 2022}}</ref> Levin's friend who was with him at the time, Oleksiy Chernyshov, was likely burned alive by Russian soldiers.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/22/ukrainian-photographer-maksim-levin-executed-cold-blood-russia Ukrainian photographer and friend were "executed in cold blood" – report] The Guardian 22 June 2022</ref><ref>[https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-journalist-maks-levin-executed-135500635.html Ukrainian journalist Maks Levin "executed by Russian troops", RSF investigation finds] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810230409/https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ukrainian-journalist-maks-levin-executed-135500635.html |date=10 August 2023 }} ca.news.yahoo.com 22 June 2022</ref>
Levin was posthumously awarded the Order for Courage.<ref>{{cite web | language = pl | title = Fotoreporter pośmiertnie odznaczony orderem. Zełenski podpisał dekret | trans-title = A photojournalist posthumously awarded the order. Zelensky signed the decree | url = https://tvn24.pl/swiat/ukraina-fotoreporter-maks-levin-zostal-posmiertnie-odznaczony-orderem-za-odwage-5660877 | website = tvn24.pl | date = 3 April 2022 | access-date = 4 April 2022 | archive-date = 3 April 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220403123818/https://tvn24.pl/swiat/ukraina-fotoreporter-maks-levin-zostal-posmiertnie-odznaczony-orderem-za-odwage-5660877 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="LB.ua April" /> A funeral service was held in Kyiv's St. Michael's Cathedral. The head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphaniy, said that he was "one of the best photographers of modern Ukraine", who "served the truth".<ref name="LB.ua April">{{cite web | url = https://en.lb.ua/news/2022/04/04/12539_kyiv_pays_last_respect.html | title = Kyiv pays last respect to photojournalist Max Levin / His vocation to tell and show the truth meant more to him than danger. He served the truth. | work = LB.ua | date = 4 April 2022 | access-date = 9 April 2022 | archive-date = 22 April 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220422014941/https://en.lb.ua/news/2022/04/04/12539_kyiv_pays_last_respect.html | url-status = live }}</ref> The funeral was at the new cemetery in Boyarka.<ref name="LB.ua April" />
The killing of Maksim Levin<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 April 2022 |title=CPJ 'deeply saddened' by death of Ukrainian photojournalist Maks Levin |url=https://cpj.org/2022/04/cpj-deeply-saddened-by-death-of-ukrainian-photojournalist-maks-levin/ |access-date=17 June 2023 |website=UNESCO}}</ref> was condemned by the Director-General of the UNESCO Audrey Azoulay in a press-release published on the 3rd of April.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 April 2022 |title=Director-General condemns killing of photographer Maksim Levin in Ukraine |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/director-general-condemns-killing-photographer-maksim-levin-ukraine |access-date=17 June 2023 |website=UNESCO}}</ref> According to global monitoring on the safety of journalists by the UNESCO's Observatory of Killed Journalists, Levin was the sixth journalist killed in Ukraine in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Observatory of Killed Journalists |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/safety-journalists/observatory?hub=72609 |access-date=17 June 2023 |website=UNESCO}}</ref>
== Exhibitions == Levin's exhibitions include:<ref name="lensculture" /> * ''Maydan: Human Factor'' * ''Ukraine 24. War&Peace'', Los Angeles * ''Conflict Zone: Ukraine'', Chicago * ''Donbas War and Peace'', European Parliament, Brussels * ''Donbas: War and Peace'', Prague * Photo exhibition about the Battle of Ilovaisk, Kyiv
== See also == * List of journalists killed during the Russo-Ukrainian War * List of solved missing person cases (2020s)
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == * {{cite web | last = Levin | first = Maks | url = https://www.lensculture.com/articles/maks-levin-searching-for-honesty-in-ukraine-s-murky-war | title = Searching for Honesty in Ukraine's Murky War – Photographs and text by Maks Levin | website = lensculture.com | type = interview}} * [https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/ukrainian-photographer-and-reuters-contributor-maksim-levin-killed-covering-war Ukrainian photographer and Reuters contributor, Maksim Levin, killed covering war] (photographs) Reuters, 4 April 2022
== External links == * {{commons category-inline|Maksim Levin}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Maks}} Category:1981 births Category:2020s missing person cases Category:2022 deaths Category:21st-century Ukrainian journalists Category:21st-century Ukrainian male journalists Category:Assassinated Ukrainian journalists Category:Deaths by firearm in Ukraine Category:Civilians killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Category:Formerly missing Ukrainian people Category:Journalists killed while covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine Category:Missing person cases in Ukraine Category:Kyiv Polytechnic Institute alumni Category:People from Boiarka Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class